James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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Dinotopia: The World Beneath

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Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara

160 pages, fully illustrated in color. Written and illustrated by James Gurney. Signed by the author

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Monday, November 7, 2011

CCAD is one of the leading art schools for training illustrators, animators, painters, and sculptors. Clockwise from above left: a gallery of student work, character maquettes, Illustration chairman Stewart McKissick with a latex foam bear head, and one of the Pirate Bears made in 3-D teacher Mark Hazelrig’s class.

Mark Hazelrig teaches popular course in sculpting and casting. When we were there, students were molding soaps and designing the packages to fit them. In a back room, they were working on a giant model of a flea.

The campus buildings are scattered across a quiet section of downtown Columbus Ohio, right next to the art museum. A giant “ART” sign spans one road in the campus.

After my lecture, I did a demo portrait of Mr. McKissick. (Thanks for the photo, Chris!) Since it was Halloween, he agreed to let me turn him into a zombie.

On the official website, the school invites you to imagine everything "from superheroes to monsters and jokes to political statements." And that's what I love about the school: the mix of wild fun, high standards, and dedicated professionalism.

8 comments:

Yes!! My school!Mr. McKissick and Hazelrig were some of my favorite professors at the school. I still remember Mr. McKissick humiliating me for an illustration I did half ass. I need to go back and say hello to my teachers that are still there.

I remember your visit to CCAD a couple of years ago. Your presentations are so inspiring! And as for McKissick - well he just kind of looks that way all the time hahaha. Joking of course. Thanks for sharing the photos!